Anne, Duchess of Brittany*

1477 saw the birth of little Anne who later became Duchess, nicknamed the Duchess of the wooden clogs (Dugez He Botoù Koad). The little one (she wasn't in fact very big) kept a firm grip on the peace of the Dukedom (and not any other piece you might be thinking of). She warded off attack both by the French and the English. In a word, she guaranteed the independence of her people.

Under attack from the "evil French", a league was formed (by England and Castile) to defend the little lassie. To guard her rear (?), she married the Emperor Maximilian of Austria in November 1490 (if you can call it a marriage, because she never saw her darling husband, not even for the ceremony, he even sent a proxy to swear the marriage vows in his place - but those Bretons, they were cunning, nothing escaped them). So there she was, our good Duchess, proclaimed Duchess of Brittany and Queen of the Romans (very classy).

Well, as it happens, the evil French, they were far from delighted, they would happily have palmed her off with one of their own... And then, Charles VIII was off again, causing misery to our dear Duchess: in a fury, he besieged the Dukedom and Rennes (taking possession of the Thabor and the Batchi ...). Worn out and a little betrayed by her friends, she was forced to marry the King of France: a puny, hunchback, nasty piece of work, hardly a feast for the eyes and with a mind well locked in the dark ages.

Well, the good Duchess was in quite a pickle: she remarried in December 1491 (even though she wasn't actually divorced, as the Jean-Paul back then was dragging his heals). At that time, the Duchess wasn't on top form, she was trying to defend good old Brittany, but well... It wasn't a bed of roses... But as luck would have it, that idiot Charlie bashed his head on a low door ledge at the Château of Amboise and died the very same night.

Nanou went back to being plain old Duchess of Brittany (phew...). But the deceased was hardly cold in his grave when along came his cousin, Louis XII, (the new King of France) to ply her with drink at "happy hour" and to fall head over heals for our little lassie. But, as it goes, damnation, this time the Duchess took quite a fancy to her suitor (in fact she'd had the hots for quite a while). Also, the Louis in question was sympathetic to Breton cause, and what with the Duchess falling under the charms of the handsome cavalier ...(don't get ideas).

There was one minor detail (but a real spanner in the works): Louis was still married to Jeanne (trolling around the bar circuit, no chance!) who, on top of it all, was drop dead ugly. Food for thought!! Louis didn't think for long: Jeanne had the inspired idea to go and die. Nanou was in Brittany tidying up the affairs of the Dukedom. In January 1494, she came back and married Louis with great pomp and ceremony (ah those Louis). So now she was Duchess of Brittany and Queen of France.